What exactly is “clean eating”?
Eat Whole Foods… plain, simple, and to the point.
When I first started my fitness journey, I had heard the buzz term “eating clean” and wasn’t quite sure what that entailed. Instead of wasting too much time figuring out what would work best for me & my lifestyle, I basically went cold turkey cutting out any and ALL things processed, no refined sugars, no white flour, and if I bought anything that was “packaged” my general rule was that if it contained less than 5-7 ingredients AND they were all things I could stock/store in my own pantry AND they were all things I could pronounce then I would purchase it and eat it. Everything was fresh. Everything was home made. Everything was grain free. Almost everything was gluten free (even though I wasn’t allergic to gluten). If something was in front of me that wasn’t those things, I looked down upon it and thought to myself “I definitely cannot put that into my body”! I literally turned into a clean eating Nazi and anytime my husband would buy a package of cookies, cereal, or even jarred pasta sauce I would list all of the “extra” ingredients AND let him know how bad each of them was to eat. At first it was a joke in the family, but I knew it was starting to annoy them. They didn’t want a lecture from me, they just wanted to eat their packaged cookies and store bought bread in peace…
I basically ate & treated food that way for an entire 14 weeks… I made nearly EVERY single meal from scratch and while I was completely happy eating this way at the time and could have continued doing so for a little while longer, I felt like I began to get tired of my meals and instead of looking forward to them, I was eventually more stressed out ensuring everything was 100% “clean”, whole, and not the slightest bit processed. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the food I was eating and I think my body loved it also, but to me it was more important to think long term and how sustainable that lifestyle would be. I didn’t want my husband and kids to constantly be reminded of how bad something was for them or resent my new fit lifestyle so I started to research alternate methods of “dieting” and stumbled upon IIFYM and flexible dieting.
What exactly is “IIFYM”?
Basically, it’s tracking your macronutrients namely protein, carbohydrates, fat, as well as fiber intake very closely each day/week. By determining the best ratio between your protein, carbs, and fat intake, I believe you can much more easily reach your fitness goals without having to resort to crazy diets and/or even eating 100% clean. It’s feeding your body in a way that is somewhat restrictive but you are still able to enjoy your food and indulge a bit EVERY day just as long as it fits within the parameters of your ratios/macros. I think for people who count calories anyways, who are binge eaters or have had eating disorders in the past (or currently), or just can’t stay on the 100% “clean” track, for anyone who simply cannot eat the same foods day in and day out, those on contest prep, OR who hate feeling guilty for straying from their regular eating clean eating routine (this is the category I fall in), IIFYM can do amazing things for not only your body but for your overall mental health as well. It’s a good alternative for people who are serious about changing their bodies BUT doing it in a healthy yet still satisfying way. I had never been a calorie counter or tracked my food, so it was difficult the first couple of weeks to adjust to that but literally after 2-3 weeks my body showed HUGE changes. I felt stronger. I felt leaner. I had more energy to train. I slept better. I felt satisfied when I ate my meals. I was eating MORE than I ever have. How can these things not motivate you to keep going with that program? It did wonders for me. Literally changed the course of my journey.
So where do I fall currently with my “diet”? I’m right in the middle. A lot of IIYM people like posting pictures of their Pop Tarts (I’m guilty of this now), but it’s a VERY small glimpse into our overall food intake. I eat 95% clean, unprocessed, whole foods all day BUT now I am not scared to incorporate something like a regular flour tortilla, store bought ice cream, a package brownie or cake mix, frozen waffles, cereal, regular white bread, etc. I feel SO much more balanced, less stressed out looking at EVERY ingredient on EVERY package, and as long as I’m hitting my macros each day & training my heart out like always, progress will continue and goals will be hit. My family also loves that I can now enjoy eating out or having frozen yogurt with them without my remarks… huge bonus for my mental state!
Will I continue with this middle ground of eating clean & IIFYM for the rest of my life? Of course not. This is a temporary for me. It’s training me to know exactly what my overall intake should be day to day/week to week so once I get the hang of it AND reach the goals I have set for myself, I will 100% resort back to just eating healthy & balanced… no tracking needing.
For more information on IIFYM, getting macros calculated or if you feel like you may suffer from metabolic damage, please check these resources:
Layne Norton (and his informative videos, THIS one specifically)
Please note that I am NOT affiliated or sponsored by any of these sites/businesses. These are simply to be used for your reference in order to gain as much knowledge as you can regarding YOUR lifestyle. Always make informed decisions in regards to your health.